First of all, what is a Hybrid car? Hybrid cars, also known as HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles), use ordinary petrol or diesel ICE engines. (internal combustion engines)
Each hybrid car, depending on the make and model, uses a variation of traditional fuel and electricity.
Types of Hybrid Car
Nowadays there are three types of hybrid cars:
Plug-in hybrids (or PHEVs) have a much bigger battery and can be driven purely on battery power without the use of any fossil fuel. The range will normally be around 20 to 30 miles, at a push maximum of 50 miles. This type of transportation is only possible after the car is plugged in a power sourced and charged. This will normally be a home wall box or a public charging point, which are found to be more common around the UK in garage forecourts and other car-accessible places. Bear in mind, if you run out of battery power, the car can still switch over to fossil fuel power.
Mild hybrids (MHEVs) simply use a more powerful car battery and have the alternator replaced with a belt-driven motor/generator which delivers a slight boost to the ICE engine.
Full hybrids (HEVs) have a bigger battery, and a more powerful electric motor, which can run purely on electric power for a short to medium distance. It’s preferred to run both power sources together to give you a very economical drive and at the same time, the battery will be charged by the ICE engine. This type of car can’t be plugged in and purely relies on self-charging capabilities.
The Science of Hybrids
The hybrid is designed and developed to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and cut down on carbon gas emissions. The idea is to take away all reliance on the internal combustion engine and have more concentration on battery power, which is cleaner and more efficient. As the world is heating up and oceans are slowly rising, manufacturers are focusing on producing more and more hybrids, and as technology develops, fully electric cars which are lighter and have not only powerful electric power, but also quicker ways of charging too.
The Cost of a Hybrid Car
To begin with, the cost of hybrid cars was quite a bit more expensive than your ordinary conventional car, but as technology progresses, the cost factor is making them, in most cases only slightly more expensive than an ordinary fossil-only-run car. But there are major manufacturers producing hybrid cars on mass which affectedly is bringing the price down to more or less match what you would pay for a conventional car. For most drivers, the financial savings available in tax mean they’ll still be saving significant sums on running costs, even if the PHEV model is more expensive to buy.
This is why at Southampton-based Best Price Cars, we have invested in buying a selection of hybrid used cars to accommodate our customers demands. Each of our used cars are fully inspected with a multi-point check before being placed on our sales forecourt or delivered free of charge to your door. Even if you have a conventional car you would like to part exchange, we would happily take it off your hands by offering you a fair market price.
We can even arrange instant car finance, through our panel of lenders. In most cases we can get an instant car finance decision.
For more information on our hybrid used cars or used vans, call 02382 544 186 and speak with one of our friendly advisors or simply click here and apply online today.